POLOKWANE – Motorists say they are fed up with the municipality and their patching of potholes.
Residents say when the municipality patches a pothole, it only lasts a week and then the fixed area is open again.
Residential areas including Flora Park, Capricorn, Môregloed, Westenburg, Nirvana, and Ladanna are affected, and there are several main roads in the city such as Rissik, Thabo Mbeki and Grobler Streets that are in a terrible condition.
A Westenburg resident said the potholes in their suburb were so bad, it looked like there had been an earthquake.
“Almost every street in Westenburg has potholes, but the streets mostly affected are Ben Harris, John Smith, Whitehead, and Buys Streets. It doesn’t help much that heavy vehicles still pass through our community via the Lawton bridge from the N1. These trucks are also contributing to the bad state of our main road,” another resident said.
Residents in Whitehead Street said the potholes were so deep, they intended to plant trees in them.
Motorists in Nirvana said the potholes there were so bad, they had to “duck and dive” when they drove. They alleged there was a pothole in every street of the suburb.
Another motorist wanted to know if the municipality would be liable if a vehicle was damaged by a pothole.
“There is a huge pothole in Grobler Street, and luckily for me I was driving slowly and saw it in time, otherwise my car would have been damaged badly. There are also numerous potholes in Rissik Street and other areas in the city,” the motorist said.
According to people, the municipality must stop with their “patching business” and fix the roads properly.
Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, could not comment on the matter at the time of going to print.
